Machines of the Strawberry Fields
by Wasmowin93
Summary: The gems were overjoyed when they found a hidden city within the ancient gem battlefield. But when Pearl returned the following day, she found it destroyed. Later when Garnet went to investigate, she found that the city had been rebuilt. What is rebuilding the city? More importantly, what is destroying it?
1. Chapter 1: Grim Berries

Chapter 1

* * *

><p>Thousands of years ago, there was a war. A civil war to be precise. A race of advanced beings known as the Crystal Gems started to feud amongst each other. This feud eventually turned into full blown warfare. The reasons behind the feud have been lost to time, long forgotten. As the war raged, more and more gem warriors fell in combat, their weapons left to erode. Precision strikes devolved into hate filled slaughter. Bothers killed sisters and vise versa. The bloodshed lasted until there were only two warriors left. One managed to slay her opponent, but not before the other fatality wounded her. With their dieing breaths, they cursed each other to suffer. After eons of warfare and chaos, the fighting had finally stopped. The fighting may have stopped, but the war did not. The countless angry souls of the fallen were still filled with an undieing hatred for their enemies. However, without bodies of their own, the two warring sides could not continue fighting. Regardless, the battle field was at long last quiet.<p>

Over the centuries, the blasted wasteland began to grow life once more. For reasons unknown, strawberries grew unchecked. The skies became blue once more and the brooks babbled again. But the dead were still aware and were still angry. In an attempt to ease the restless souls of the fallen, the remaining crystal gems constructed a temple in the heart of the fields. That is were the story should have ended, but fate had other plans.

* * *

><p>"Ahug! Why are we here again?" Amethyst whined loudly. "Didn't get enough of that crazy temple the first time?"<p>

"We are here because Garnet sensed that there was a crystal artifact that we must have missed," Pearl answered hotly.

"And we're getting closer," the tall an imposing Garnet stated monotonously. Pearl looked behind her, she noticed that Steven was lagging behind. The young half gem was busy messing with his new laptop while trying to keep pace with the group.

"Steven, why did you bring your laptop?" Pearl asked in a stressed tone. Steven's eyes darted to Pearl then back to his laptop.

"Clan Wars," he stated transfixed. Pearl rolled her eyes.

"And what exactly is that?" she asked already knowing she wasn't going to like the answer.

"A video game," Garnet answered flatly. Pearl ran her palm over her forehead.

"Why am I not surprised?"

The gems continued their march through the fields with the sweet smell of strawberries filling the air. Pearl sighed happily and stretched her arms out above her. The sun, the breeze, and the sweet fragrance made everything about that place so inviting. Though she wouldn't admit it, Amethyst enjoyed it there too. She though it was awesome being able to reach down and grab a handful of sweet, juicy strawberries and then see how many she could fit in her mouth.

Steven didn't notice the scenery, He was too busy leveling up his Sherman Jumbo he had named

'Steven Jr. Two.' He always giggled whenever he said the tanks model name.

"Hehehe...Jumbo."

After walking for another ten minutes, the gems found themselves at the shattered remains of the upside down pyramid temple. Amethyst spat out a mouthful of half chewed strawberries, much to Pearl's disgust.

"Uh-uh, I'm not goin' back in there!" Amethyst exclaimed loudly. "Not gonna happen!"

"Oh, stop complaining!" Pearl snapped. "Why must you always-"

"I'll kill all of you!" Steven blurted out loudly. Both Pearl and Amethyst gave a confused look, Pearl's being more frightened.

"Steven...why would you say that?" she asked in a hurt tone. "I-is it because me and Amethyst were-"

"Yeah, yeah, just a minute Pearl!" Steven stated dismissively, as if he hadn't heard her. "Only twenty seconds left! Don't quit on me now Steven Jr two!"

Amethyst busted out into laughter.

"Oh, man, P, you should have seen the look on your face!" she cackled while pointing at the confused Pearl. " You actually thought he was talkin' to you!" Pearl turned dark blue with embarrassment. She was really regretting buying Steven that laptop for his birthday. Garnet threw a large pile of refuse off of the wrecked temple. She reached in and pulled out a red shimmering gem.

"Is that what I think it is?" Pearl asked eagerly, eyes wide with amazement.

"What is it?" both Steven and Amethyst asked.

"It's a monomolecular crystal assembly and construction unit," Garnet answered flatly as she adjusted her shades. Pearl squealed with delight, like Steven at Christmas.

"With one of these, one person could construct massive cities in over a day!"

Pearl had finally caught Steven's attention. With childlike wonder, he peered into the crystal with a big smile.

"How does it work?" he asked with stars in his eyes.

"This one unfortunately won't," Garnet answered much to Pearl and Steven's dismay. "It had used up all of it's internally stored energy."

"So this whole trip was a bust?" Amethyst exclaimed. "Too bad Pearl, you looked so excited too."

That did it, Pearl was angry. What followed was the usual cat fight between Pearl and Amethyst, with Garnet trying her best to break it up. With all the commotion, the gems failed to notice that the crystal was glowing. It needed to build, to do that, it needed energy. With a tiny search light, the crystal scanned the area around it for any source of power. It's power hungry gaze fell upon Steven's prized laptop. With a loud bang the crystal's beam tore through the laptop, throwing Steven on his back. In less that a microsecond, the crystal downloaded all that it needed. It began to integrate blue prints and design specifications. It now knew what to build and even what materials it needed to build. Before the gems could react, the crystal shot high into the air and exploded, scattering it's microscopic shards everywhere.

"Steven!" Pearl shouted as she rushed to him. "Are you hurt?"

The soot covered Steven sat up and look around himself, then to the gems, and finally to his hands.

"Steven Jr Two...?" he whimpered, eyes watering and lip quivering. Pearl hugged him with a sigh of relief. She was thankful that he was not too badly hurt. Suddenly the ground began to shake and buckle. Sensing that something really bad was about to happen, Garnet scooped up Steven and then Amethyst and Pearl.

"We need to leave," she stated urgently. "Now!"

With a flash, the gems teleported back to the temple. The gems didn't know it at the time, but they had just set something into motion that could not be reversed. The crystal constructor had only enough power to extensively scan one program on Steven's laptop before it was forced to begin it task of construction.  
>The program was titled "World of Tanks."<p> 


	2. Chapter 2 : A New Stage is Set

Chapter 2

* * *

><p>With a bright flash, the gems exited the warp field, and were back at the temple. Garnet released her friends from her protective grip. Steven was warp sick, he hadn't gotten used to teleportation yet. But that never stopped him from going on adventures with the rest of the gems.<p>

"What just happened?" Pearl asked.

"The crystal assembler was activated," Garnet responded, adjusting her shades.

"Activated?" Amethyst asked, her hair thrown messily over her face from the teleportation. "You said it had no power!"

Garnet placed her hands on her hips and stared down at Steven accusingly.

"It found more."

Steven got off of the floor and wiped the soot from his face, smiling nervously.

"What have you learned?" Garnet asked in an authoritative tone.

"Uhh... laptops and magic don't mix?" Steven replied doubtfully.

"You're lucky that you didn't get hurt," Pearl stated unamused, her arms crossed.

Steven gave a guilty expression.

"Yeah, I messed up, sorry guys."

Amethyst pounced Steven from behind, trapping him in a bear hug.

"Aww relax Steven," she giggled. "How were you supposed to know that crystal was gonna eat your laptop?"

"Amethyst, get off of him," Pearl ordered in a stressed tone. "You might hurt him."

"Ugh, chill out ,P," Amethyst groaned loudly as she slipped off of Steven's back. "We're just having fun."

"This is serous you two!" Pearl snapped hotly. "There is no telling what that crystal assembler is building!"

"Fine," Amethyst sighed rolling her eyes. "Let's go back and get it."

Garnet shook her head.

"Not now," she stated flatly. "It would be too dangerous to go back while the crystal is constructing."

"Well, when then?" Steven asked, hoping that he might be able to retrieve his laptop's body.

"Tomorrow," Garnet answered. "It should be finished building tomorrow morning."

* * *

><p>While the gems waited out the rest of the day, the crystal assembler began to force it's will upon the strawberry fields.<br>Earth moved, roots snapped, and streams became rivers. Everything moved at a steady, beating pace.  
>The land itself seemed to pulse with change, almost like a heart beat.<br>Rocks, trees, even the strawberries were pulled from the earth and held in the sky, suspended by the assembler.  
>The moon was blocked out by a cloud of suspended earth and rock.<br>But as the land shifted and mud churned, the angry souls of the fallen gems began to wail.  
>The earth had been their long resting place. The shattered crystals of their bodies were imbedded into the very ground.<br>The assembler found these crystals and viewed them as resources. In what would have looked like a glass tornado, these gems fragments were pulled from the earth and added into the cloud of disassembled resources.  
>The souls cried out in pain and confusion as they were thrown and tossed all over the fields. The restless souls were no longer slaves to the earth, they were now just another resource to be used by the assembler.<p>

* * *

><p>"Steven, are you ready to leave?" Pearl hollered, standing at the warp pad with the other gems.<p>

"Just a sec'!" Steven hollered back. He was packing his cheeseburger backpack with everything he thought they might need. Snacks, blankets, rope, a pillow, and a flash light. With everything stuffed into the backpack, Steven ran down the stares.

"All right, lets do this!" he exclaimed eagerly.

The warp pad began to gleam brightly before teleporting the gems out of the temple. Once the warp field had dissipated, the gems were greeted by something they did not ever expected to find in the strawberry fields.

"Is that-"

"Could it be?"

"It is."

Before them, where the strawberry fields once were, stood a massive city. The city was easily a hundred miles long and two hundred miles wide. Splitting the city down the center was a massive blue river with white sand hugging the edge of the water. Massive towers and steeples scraped the blue sky. Everything seemed to shimmer in the light.

"This-this is unbelievable!" Pearl exclaimed loudly, her eyes wide with wonder.

"It built an entire city," Garnet stated in silent awe.

"Way cool..." Amethyst cooed happily, almost drooling.

Steven said nothing, then without warning, he bolted towards the city.

"Steven, wait!" Pearl exclaimed. "It might be dangerous!"

Amethyst laughed and ran past Pearl, pushing her into Garnet.

"I like the way you think, Steven!" she laughed as she ran. "Race ya to the city!"

"You're on, Amethyst!" Steven shouted joyfully. " Last one to the city makes lunch!"

"Steven, Amethyst, wait!" Pearl shouted. She turned to Garnet. "Shouldn't we do something?"

Garnet didn't answer, she just bolted towards the city. Pearl stood bewildered, she crossed her arms and frowned, pouting. She couldn't fool herself, she was just as excited to see the city as the rest of them where. Her pouting lips formed into a smile.

"Oh, why not?" she laughed as she ran after the others.

The gems ran through the vast grass lands that surrounded the city, laughing gleefully. Pearl couldn't help but notice that all the strawberries were gone. This made her feel a twinge of sadness. She enjoyed their sweet smell and color. But the tall grass had a pleasing smell of its own, so she was content. The grass fields lead to winding streets of smooth, dark cobblestone.

"I win!" Steven shouted joyously, throwing his arms in the air.

Amethyst stopped close behind him, followed by Garnet, then finally Pearl.

"Looks like you're making lunch, Pearl!" Amethyst cackled mockingly.

"I always make lunch," Pearl retorted smugly.

The gems could not believe how much bigger the city looked from inside of it. Everything looked so clean and tidy.

"Look at the architecture," Pearl pointed. "It looks almost human!"

All of the buildings looked like they were taken right out of an antique postcard of eastern Europe.

"Look at those cars!" Steven shouted excitedly. "They look so retro!"

All around the city, cars that looked like they belonged in the 1950s were parked and in pristine condition.

"Did the crystal assembler do all of this?" Amethyst asked while she picked her nose.

Garnet shrugged her shoulders.

"It's possible," she stated flatly. "But I've never seen a crystal assembler work on this scale before."

The others couldn't see it, but Garnets third eye could. About a hundred miles west of the city stood a second city. It's architecture look like 1950s America, with soda posters, American cars, and even and an airfield. To the north about the same distance was a vast area of valleys and farms. Small cottages and farms dotted the landscape. To the northeast sat a large mountainous area. Along the mountains sat a small lake with a small port town. To the east sat a frozen, tree covered tundra. Within the tundra sat a massive city. The architecture looked distinctly Russian. Farther east stood a thick bamboo forest. A small feudal era japan looking village sat nestled between two mountains with small winding paths carved into their sides. One thing that stood out the most to her was that each different area had large factories.

"This place is pretty big," Garnet stated monotonously as she adjusted her shades.

Amethyst let out a squeal of excitement, she couldn't wait to see the all of the sight that were waiting to be seen. She grabbed Steven and Pearl's arms and started pulling them with her.

"Let's go explore it!" she exclaimed happily.

"May we Garnet?" Pearl asked, equally excited.

Garnet smiled and nodded her head.

"Just for a little while."

The 'little while' lasted for ten hours. The gems were having so much fun exploring this new, untouched country. They swam in the river were Amethyst proved to Steven that she could hold her breath longer than him. Steven almost drowned. The gems then made their way into the America 'themed' city. There they found a baseball field and played a few rounds. They stopped when it was Garnet's turn to be the pitcher. They walked through the small rural farm lands and eventually found their way to the hidden mountain village. Pearl really enjoyed the oriental style of architecture and the way the cherry blossoms danced through the air. Finally, they stopped for lunch, which Pearl made.

"The sun is going down," Garnet stated flatly. "We should head back to the temple."

Both Steven and Amethyst moaned with dismay.

"Aww, do we have to?" Steven asked sadly.

"Yeah, this place is awesome!" Amethyst exclaimed, her mouth full of half chewed sandwich.

"I'm afraid Garnet is right," Pearl sighed with disappointment. "Something might happen on Earth while we're here. Who would protect the Earth while we laze about here?"

"Army."

"Air Force."

"Navy."

Pearl reached down and pulled Steven and Amethyst up to their feet.

"Lets go you two," she stated in a motherly tone.

"We can come back here later, right?" Steven asked, hopeful that the answer was 'yes'.

Pearl looked to Garnet who shrugged her shoulders. Pearl then looked to Amethyst and Steven who were both giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, but only on weekdays," Pearl said with a smile. Both Steven and Amethyst rapped their arms around Pearl, giving her a crushing bear hug.

"You're the best, Pearl!" Steven cheered happily.

"Yeah, you're slightly less lame!"

The gems all stood together as they teleported back to the temple, with new found joy and wonder in their minds.

The sun began to set on the fields. All was still and quiet. Everything, but the factories.

* * *

><p>Hidden within their concrete walls, the factories toiled. The crystal assembler forced the factories to run endlessly.<br>Vats of molten metal poured into casts and molds. Within the winding and pounding of the assembly line, the hot shapeless masses of metal were given form. Smashed, cut, and ground to perfection. The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the night. The shaped and finalized metal sections were joined as one with a shower of sparks and rivets. The restless souls were, confused at first, but then they understood what was happening.  
>They were being reborn.<br>Not as the proud gems they once were, but into something basic, simple, but primal. Their flesh was now steel and iron. Their lungs belched black exhaust. Diesel and gasoline was now the life blood that flowed through there veins. They were legless, armless, yet the ground still trembled beneath them.  
>Their mouths spewed great gouts fire and iron. For once in a thousand years, the restless souls were happy.<br>They were happy that they had been given a second chance.  
>A second chance to finally slay their hated enemies.<br>Their engines roared to life, the pounding of the factory became like a war drum to them.  
>Their long prison sentence was finally over. The war could finally continue in full.<p>

"_Roll out!_"


	3. Chapter 3 : An Unexpected Development

Chapter 3

* * *

><p>"Pearl, hey, hey, Pearl!"<p>

"What, Steven?!" Pearl finally snapped. "What is it?!"

Steven held the calender up to Pearl's face.

"It's Saturday!" he squealed happily. "You said we could go to the Fields on weekdays."

Pearl nudged the calender down from her face.

"That's true, but Garnet and Amethyst are on a mission right now," she stated in a matter of factly tone. "It would be unfair to go without them."

Steven fell to his knees and held his hands up pleadingly.

"Awww, come on," he begged. "I already told Connie she could see it."

"Steven, you told Connie about the fields?!" Pearl exclaimed in disbelief. "Why did you do that?"

Steven blushed and started fidgeting with his hands.

"Well, she just seems so lonely all the time," he stated, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment. "I just thought she could use the fun."

Pearl crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. It was obvious that the boy had a huge crush on the girl Connie. And what Steven said was true, Connie did not have many friends. Pearl looked to the warp pad.

_Who knows when Garnet and Amethyst will return, _she though wistfully. Pearl looked back down to Steven. He was giving her big puppy dog eyes and clinging to her ankle. Pearl couldn't deny it, she wanted to go back the fields just as much as Steven did. Against her better judgment, she finally relented.

"Oh, alright," Pearl stated smiling. "But only for an hour."

Steven lept up off the floor and hugged Pearl.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he cheered joyfully. "You're the best!"

Pearl smiled and returned the hug.

"Remember, just for an hour," Pearl repeated.

"I will, wait here, I'm gonna get Connie," Steven said happily. After letting go of Pearl, Steven ran to the door and opened it. Connie had been standing at the door while Steven negotiated.

"Is it alright?" she asked nervously. Steven took her by the hand and led her inside.

"Yep, Pearl says we can only stay for an hour though," Steven answered, chuckling nervously.

Connie smiled, the way Steven described this secret city had gotten her all excited. She couldn't wait to see it. The two ran up and stood next to Pearl.

"Are you two ready?" she asked, still unsure about how wise it would be to take Connie.

"I'm ready!" Steven exclaimed ready to burst from excitement.

"S-so am I," Connie stated nervously.

The warp pad gleamed dully before a pillar of light shot upward, engulfing the three in the warp field.

"Connie, close you're eyes," Steven urged playfully. He didn't want the bright light to affect her before she could lay her eyes on the city.

"Okay," Connie complied.

The warp field began to dim as the three were teleported back to their prized city.

"Okay, Connie. Now open your-" Steven went silent.

"Open?" Connie asked. "Alright, I can't wait to see it!"

When she opened her eyes she was not greeted by the mythical city Steven had described to her.

The wide open grassy fields, the crystal blue river, the winding streets of smooth cobblestone, the untouched towers and steeples, every thing was in ruin.

"Steven...is this a joke?" Connie asked, her heart breaking.

"No,no,no this isn't a joke!" he assured her panicking. "This-this is...this is, Pearl, what is this?"

Pearl shook her head, her hand covering her mouth in shock.

"I-I don't know, Steven," she responded shakily. "This-this can't be right. Everything was fine when we left it the other day.

Connie started to sniffle sadly, she was so excited to she the city and spend time with Steven. But now none of that was going to happen. The city that the gems had discovered was gone. Pearl started to walk towards the ruined city, unable to believe what she was seeing. With Connie in hand, Steven followed her.

The blue sky was now a dull gray with black clouds of smoke seeping from the ruins. The streets were covered with rubble and broken glass. Blast marks and craters were everywhere. The once beautiful river was empty and lined with cracks and small burning fires. Ashes and embers steadily danced through the air. The old vintage cars were ravaged. Some were crush, some blown apart, and others simply sat and burned. Oil fires dotted the city.

Pearl was at a loss for words. This didn't make sense, everything was fine when they last saw the city, but now it looked like barren war-torn no man's land.

"I don't understand," she spoke aloud. "What could have done something like this in such a short amount of time?"

"I-I don't know," Connie stated, the quietness of the ruins unnerving her. "Y-you guys don't think whatever caused this is still here, do you?" Connie let out a tiny scream as something tripped her. After picking up her glasses, Steven came to her aid.

"Connie, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

She took her glasses and put them back on, the lenses were covered I dust. As she looked through her lenses for scratches, she noticed something.

"Hey, what do you think these are?" she asked pointing at the ground.

Pearl and Steven crouched down beside her and looked to where she was pointing. Embedded deep in the ground were markings. The markings were in a pair lined up parallel to each other with a wide space in between. Pearl ran her thin fingers along the marking. She groaned with disgust, the marking had left a black sludge on her finger tips. It was still warm.

"Whatever did this, it wasn't natural," she stated as she wiped her hand off.

Steven gave Pearl a confused look.

"What do you mean it wasn't natural?" he asked, hoping that the clever gem would have an answer he could understand. Pearl frowned and shook her head.

"I'm not sure, but we should leave and tell Garnet and Amethyst," she stated in an urgent tone. "It's too dangerous for us to be here alone. Whatever caused this might still be lurking around somewhere."

Connie and Steven whimpered and clung to each other, frightened that what Pearl had said was right.

"I-I wanna go home," Connie sniffled, tears threatening to spill out at any second. Steven shook his head in agreement.

"Yeah, lets go home."

Pearl put her hands on both of the frightened children and held them close to her.

"Hold on."

With a flash of light, the three teleported out of the desolate ruins. When Steven and Connie opened their eyes again, they were back at the temple. Waiting to greet them stood a very unamused Garnet and Amethyst.

"Where have you been?" Garnet asked in a stern voice. Before Pearl could answer, Steven and Connie ran to her.

"Its gone!" they both cried, tears rolling down their faces.

"What's gone?" Garnet asked.

"The city, it's gone!" Steven cried. "W-we went to show Connie it, but when we got there it was gone!"

"Calm down Steven," Garnet instructed, placing her hands on his shoulders. "You and Connie go wait out side."  
>Steven wiped his eyes and took Connie by the hand. Not wanting to be a burden, Connie simply followed Steven. With Connie and Steven out of the way, Garnet turned her attention back to Pearl.<p>

"Now, what happened?" she asked in a demanding voice.

"Yeah, what gives?" Amethyst asked.

Pearl fidgeted with her hands nervously.

"The city that we found the other day it's..." Pearl paused, unsure what to say.

"It's what?" Garnet asked, growing impatient.

Pearl swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and took a deep breath.

"It's been destroyed!"

"Are you joking?" Amethyst asked accusingly.

"I'm serious, Amethyst!" Pearl snapped hotly. "Something destroyed the city!"

"What did?" Garnet asked, realizing that the panic in Pearl's voice was genuine.

"I...I don't know," Pearl sighed in defeat. "It was too risky to investigate with Connie around."

Without saying a word, Garnet grabbed Pearl by the arm and dragged her to the warp pad.

"Hey, wait for me!" Amethyst exclaimed, rushing over to the pad.

Before Pearl could get a word in edgewise, the three gems teleported.

Once the three gems exited the warp field, Pearl was the first one off of the pad.

"See, look, the whole town is-" Pearl stopped. The ruins, the wreckage, the fires, all gone.

Standing as if nothing had happened stood the shimmering city. The once desolate wasteland was now lush with green grass. The shy was blue and cloudless. Everything was as they had originally found it.

"You were saying, Pearl?" Amethyst asked in a unamused tone. "Everything looks fine to me!"

Pearl's mind had drawn a blank. Words failed her as she tried to explain what she had seen earlier. She started to laugh hysterically, her mind had finally taken all it could. Her laughter then turned into loud sobs as she fell to her knees.

"I-it was gone. But n-now it's back. How can it b-be back? It was in ruins...but now..."

Garnet crouched down in front of her, holding her hand out to help her. Pearl gave a loud cry then threw her arms around Garnet.

"I don't understand!" she cried as hot tears rolled down her face. Garnet gently picked Pearl up in her arms.

"We're leaving," she stated firmly. Amethyst nodded her head.  
>Amethyst didn't know what to think at this point. It was not like Pearl to lie and even less like her to play pranks.<br>While the city was very much still intact, something obviously had spooked Steven, Connie, and Pearl.  
>As Garnet held Pearl securely in her arms, Garnet noticed something odd; the factories were still running.<p>

* * *

><p>Once the gems had made it back to the temple, Garnet carried Pearl to her room so that she could rest.<p>

Steven and Connie were sitting outside on the patio, both still shaken from the trip.

"Connie, I'm sorry that the city was gone," Steven stated sadly. "I know how much you wanted to see it."

Connie smiled and put her hand on top of Steven's.

"It's alright," she said in a hushed voice. "I still got to spend time with you."

Steven turned beet red. Connie actually wanted to spend her time with him. Connie yawned and stood up.

"It's getting late," she stated tiredly. "I better get home."

Steven stood up and stretched his arms, yawning as well.

"It was nice seeing you again," he said happily.

Connie leaned towards Steven and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Hope we can do it again sometime," she giggled playfully.

Steven stood like a statue as Connie walked away. He placed his hand over his cheek, and fell backwards.

"I'm never gonna wash this cheek again."

* * *

><p>As the sun set and the moon rose, the factories continued with their tasks.<br>Reforge, reshape, reassemble, rebuild. The restless souls were growing concerned.  
>Over the course of a few battles, they began to notice that their new bodies weren't responding as fluidly as they had been.<br>It felt as if there was something else within their new bodies fighting the gems' will.  
>What the fallen gems didn't know was that the crystal assembler had not only replicated their new bodies, it had replicated all the blood, sweat, and emotions that had gone into making the original forms.<br>The amount of mystical energy that the assembler produced unintentionally gave these raw, intangible emotions a consciousness.  
>The once hollow puppets of the angry gem souls now had a spirit of their own.<br>And these new spirits found the fallen gems unworthy.


	4. Chapter 4 : A City in Flames

Chapter 4

* * *

><p>It had been five days since the gems had returned from the fields. After her mild mental break down, Pearl had mostly recovered. She refused to talk about the incident, but still believed that something had destroyed the city. While Garnet wanted to believe her, Pearl had no evidence to reinforce her claim. But Garnet knew Pearl, and Pearl would not lie to her. Something wasn't right, and Garnet was determined to find out what it was. To do that, she would have to return to the fields.<p>

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you're going back?" Amethyst asked in disbelief. "We both saw it last time. Everything was fine."<p>

"Are you going to try to stop me?" Garnet responded in her usual monotone voice.

"As if, I'm coming with ya!" Amethyst cackled excitedly as she rushed over to the warp pad. Garnet turned to Pearl, who was sitting in the couch wrapped in a blanket. She was still too freaked out to do anything gem related, but she was recovering. Luckily, Steven and Lion were there to take care of her.

"We'll be back shortly," Garnet stated. "Try not to strain yourself."

"Garnet, really, I'm fine," Pearl insisted, unaware of the slight twitch in her eye.

"Pearl, your head practically exploded," Amethyst responded. "You need to sit back and chill for a bit."

Her arms wobbling, Pearl push herself up from the couch.

"Really, Amethyst, I think I can manage-"

Before she could finish her statement, Steven ran up and forced her back on the couch.

"No, Pearl!" he exclaimed loudly, holding her down. "I don't want your head to explode!"

"Steven, get off of me!" Pearl ordered as she tried to pry Steven off of her.

"You heard the man, Pearl," Amethyst snickered. "Don't run off now."

The warp pad flashed and teleported Garnet and Amethyst out of the temple.  
>Once the light of the warp field faded, instead of the fresh clean air they had come to love, Garnet and Amethyst were assaulted by suffocating black smoke.<br>The gems started to choke, it felt as if something had its claws sunk deeply into their lungs.

"I can't see!" Amethyst cried out, her eyes burning. Thinking quickly, Garnet grabbed a hold of Amethyst and crouched to the ground.

"Hold on!" she coughed out.

With her mighty strength, Garnet jumped into the air and out of the massive smoke cloud that covered the land.  
>The city, the plains, everything below them was in a state of absolute chaos. Thunderous booms echoed from all directions.<br>Bright orange flashes bled through the dense smoke cloud. Monstrous silhouettes darted to and fro, obscured by the smoke cloud.  
>Fires burned and embers ascended into the leaden sky. It was like they were stuck in a war zone.<br>As Garnet descended, she spotted something. Out of all the ruined buildings, the only ones that were not touched by the mayhem were the factories.  
>They still stood tall, and still had black smoke seeping from their smokestacks.<p>

Garnet and Amethyst took a deep breath of air before they fell back to the ground. It was too dangerous to stay any longer, they needed to leave now.  
>As the dull light of the warp field began to shine a deafening grinding noise crept up in front of them.<br>Before the gems stood the silhouette of a massive, boxy behemoth.  
>Just as the warp field activated, something exploded out of the behemoth and hurtled towards the gems.<p>

* * *

><p>Pearl and Steven were passing the time by playing a game of cards. Steven was on a roll, but only because Pearl was letting him win.<br>A bright light radiated off of the warp pad. Pearl sighed sadly, the two gems were probably going to tell her that everything was still perfect.

"Looks like Garnet and Amethyst are-"

A deafening boom burst out from the warp field as Garnet and Amethyst were thrown out in a gout of flames.  
>They both tumbled and rolled violently before slamming into the living room coffee table.<p>

"Garnet, Amethyst!" Pearl cried out as she lept from the couch.

Both were covered in soot and stank of smoke. Small burning embers were scattered all around the living room, which Steven was rushing to stomp out.  
>The explosion burnt a large black ring around the warp pad. Garnet, having taken the brunt of the explosion, was lying face down unconscious.<br>Amethyst groaned and rolled over onto her back.

"Amethyst, can you hear me?!" Pearl shouted as she shook her.

Amethyst's eyes flickered open. She looked up at Pearl and smiled weakly.

"Hey...Pearl," she groaned sorely. "You were right."

Amethyst's eyes rolled back in her head as she passed out.

"Steven, take Amethyst and set her on the couch!" Pearl shouted.

Pearl couldn't help but feel a sense of relief in the back of her mind. Garnet and Amethyst both saw the ruined city with their own eyes.

She wasn't crazy, and she knew it now.

Garnet coughed and stirred as she began to regain consciousness.

"I saw them..." she muttered weakly.

Pearl and Steven both strained to lift her off of the ground. As gently as they could, they rested Garnet on the couch next to Amethyst.

"I saw them..." she repeated slightly louder.

"What did you see?" Steven asked as he wiped her forehead with a damp rag.

"Did you see what destroyed the city?" Pearl asked as she tended to Amethyst.

"There were so many. Too many to count. They laid waste to everything..." Garnet stated as she faded in and out of consciousness.

_More than one?_ Pearl asked herself.

"They...they...," Garnet spoke hazily, her eyelids felt like led.

"They, what?" Pearl asked as she shook Garnet to try and keep her awake.

Suddenly Garnet grabbed Pearl by the shoulders and pulled her in so close that their faces were practically touching.

"They came from the factories..." Garnet hissed, leaving small purple droplets of blood on Pearl's face.

With a pained groan, Garnet released Pearl from her vice like grip and passed out.

Pearl looked to Steven, who was visibly shaken. Pearl put her arms around him and embraced him, hoping it would calm him.

"We were right, Steven," Pearl stated somberly. "How I wish that we weren't."

"What do we do now?" Steven asked worriedly. Pearl shook her head and sighed tiredly.

"We will have to go back," she spoke in a hushed tone. "Go back and stop whatever is lurking in those factories."


	5. Chapter 5 : The Titans Awaken

Chapter 5

* * *

><p>Now that the gems knew for a fact that something was wreaking havoc within the former strawberry fields, the gems now had a new task before them.<br>They now had to find out exactly what that something was. The one thing they knew for certain was that whatever was causing the destruction was connected to the factories. But in order for the gems to find what had attacked the city, they would have to wait for the intruders to show themselves.  
>They had detriment that the culprits attacked in between the gem's last trips through the warp pad.<br>Meaning that since the city was destroyed during Garnet and Amethyst's last trip, it would most likely be rebuilt during the next trip.  
>The next trip was set to start at midnight. Now that the gems had a plan, they all set about getting ready for the trip.<br>The gems were going hunting.

* * *

><p>Steven was busy stuffing his cheeseburger backpack full of anything he could think of.<br>After Garnet and Amethyst's return from the fields, he had been preparing for the next and hopefully final expedition.  
>He wanted to find what had hurt is friends and give it a piece of his mind. Sure he was nervous, be he was more excited than anything else.<br>He packed a camera this time and he was going to take as many photos of the city for Connie.

Pearl waited the night out in her room. To fight off her anxiousness, she had decided to pass the time by sparring against her holographic copies.  
>The copies never lasted as long as she wanted them to. Pearl was feeling unstoppable. It had been five days since she had last seen the glorious city.<br>Five days since it had made a fool out of her. Whatever was lurking within that cursed city, Pearl was determined to find it and make it pay.  
>No one made a fool out of her and got away with it.<p>

Amethyst waited the night out the best way she knew, by sleeping. She had no personal vendetta against whatever had attacked her.  
>She just wanted to know what it was. She knew one thing was certain, it must have been plenty powerful if it could throw her and Garnet like a couple of rag dolls.<p>

With her wounds healed, Garnet spent the night meditating in her room. As she meditated, she could feel the energy of the universe flowing around her.  
>Everything in the universe moved in a constant circular motion. Life, death, and rebirth are all in an infinite cycle. As she focused her mind, Garnet had a thought.<br>What if the crystal assembler was stuck in an infinite looping cycle? She prayed that was not the case. For if it were, then destroying the factories would solve nothing. But Garnet knew she couldn't jump to any conclusions. She had to witness the event unfold from the very beginning.

* * *

><p>Steven's watch chirped; it was now midnight, time to get going.<p>

"Lets see, rope, pillow, blanket, flash light, kazoo, and some juice boxes," Steven said to himself as he checked off his list of 'equipment'. "Yep, that's everything."  
>After zipping up one final zipper, Steven headed down the stares.<p>

"We're goin' on a monster hunt, a monster hunt, a monster hunt!" he sang merrily as he hopped down each step.  
>Once he hopped off the final step, Steven rushed into the living room to join the other gems. Pearl was sitting on the couch, patiently waiting for Steven to arrive. Amethyst had fallen back to sleep and was snoring loudly. Garnet stood silently, waiting to address the gems.<p>

"I'm ready guys!" Steven exclaimed excitedly.

Amethyst snorted an awoke with a jolt.

"Wha- who's there- oh, it's you, Steven," she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "We were just waiting for you."

Pearl nodded her head in agreement.

"Now that we are all present, Garnet can go over her plan with us." she stated in a matter of factly tone.

Garnet nodded her head.

"As you are all aware by now, something is attacking the former strawberry fields," she stated firmly as she adjusted her shades.  
>"What we don't know is what or why? Another fact we must remember is that the city appears to repair itself at different intervals.<br>Seeing as the city was destroyed last time Amethyst and I ventured there, we can assume that the city will be repaired at this time."

"Which means...?" Amethyst asked.

"Which means we are going to have to wait the day out in the fields to see what is destroying the city, and how the city is repairing itself," Pearl answered with a proud and smug smile.

"Precisely," Garnet replied flatly. "It will probably be peaceful during the day, but I want everyone to exercise extreme caution once the sun begins to set. I believe that is when the attacks start."

"Well, I'm ready to go," Amethyst stated as she hopped up from the couch. "The sooner we get this over with, the better."

"I couldn't agree more," Pearl said calmly as she stood up and walked to the warp pad. "We caused this and now we have to stop it."

Steven took in a deep breath and puffed out his chest. It was serious Steven time.

"Serious Steven, Activate!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to join the others. Once the gems had gathered around the warp pad, Garnet gave one last piece of advice.

"Do not get separated. Whatever is coming from those factories, they know the terrain better than we do."

With a familiar flash, the gems were teleported.

* * *

><p>It was dawn in the fields, the sun was just starting to rise. There was no wind, no breeze, no air movement what so ever.<br>It was very, very cold out, so cold that a fine layer of frost covered the tips of the grass.  
>Steven shivered and chattered his teeth. Luckily, he had packed his blanket.<br>Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl looked around the area for anything that stood out. The only thing they noticed was the factories

"What do we do now, Garnet?" Pearl asked. "Everything seems fine right now."

"We wait," Garnet stated flatly.

"For how long?" Amethyst asked, dreading the answer.

"As long as we need to," Garnet responded firmly.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," Amethyst groaned with dread.

* * *

><p>Minutes turned to hours as the gems waited. Amethyst and Steven managed to fight off boredom by taking photos of the city and silly ones of each other.<br>After an hour of photo taking, the two played tag. Amethyst always won, but Steven didn't mind.  
>He was just happy that he could see the city one more time before it was destroyed.<br>He only wished that Connie could be there with him.

Pearl spent the time by practicing with her spear. She wanted to be ready for whatever it was that lurked at night.  
>As the morning matured, the sun's light warmed the fields. The once still air now gave a welcoming breeze that smelt of sweet grass.<br>Even though Pearl knew that none of the field's beauty would survive the night, she still couldn't help becoming enamored with it.  
>The warmth, the smell, she loved all of it.<br>Pearl felt like dancing, and dance she did.  
>She started to move and sway to the soothing caress of the sun's warmth, her lithe body gleamed in its light.<br>She twirled and pranced to the harmonious song that the breeze softly sang to her.  
>Pearl inhaled a deep breath of the sweet fresh air, then released it with a content sigh.<br>She always loved to dance, and here in the fields, she needed no audience.

Like a stone guardian, Garnet kept her watchful eyes over the fields.  
>She could feel something, it was the same feeling one gets before a massive storm.<br>She remembered the scorching heat, the bone shaking shock, and the thunderous sound of the explosion.  
>Whatever caused it was powerful and full of primal fury.<br>And she knew it was just one of many.  
>But this time, Garnet was alert and unhindered.<br>This time she was ready for them.

* * *

><p>It was an hour past noon and so far nothing was happening. Garnet was done waiting, it was time to act.<p>

"Lets go, Gems!" she ordered. "Follow my lead!"

Garnet crouched and lept into the air. Pearl grabbed a hold of Steven and lept after Garnet, followed by Amethyst.  
>The gems bounded after their leader. Garnet had one goal, make it to the nearest factory.<p>

"Where are we going?!" Steven shouted over the whooshing air.

"To the closest factory!" Garnet replied as she lept from a rooftop.

"Why?" asked Pearl who was holding on to Steven tightly.

"I already told you," Garnet responded. "That's where they come from!"

After jumping over a few blocks, the gems stopped on top of the roof of an apartment complex.  
>The complex was located a few blocks in front of the closest factory.<br>Garnet signaled the gems to remian quiet so that they could listen for anything unusual.  
>At first they heard nothing. But as the sun reached it's highest point in the sky. The factories began to stir.<br>Garnet could hear a dull pounding sound from within the factory. The dull poundings rhythm mimicked that of a heart's beating.  
>The pounding steadily grew louder and louder. The pounding was followed by the hissing of steam from pipes and whistles.<br>The collective sounds became deafeningly loud.

Garnet readied her gauntlets.  
>Amethyst cracked her whip.<br>Pearl summoned her spear.  
>Steven was being... Steven.<br>Abruptly, the sounds stopped.

"Get ready gems!" Garnet ordered.

"Ready to rock!"

"Likewise!"

"I'm gonna hide behind you guys!"

A loud growling noise came from within the factory. Whatever was in there, it was coming out.

With a metallic scraping, one of the eight steel door of the factory slid open.

"This is it!" Garnet shouted.

With a low grinding noise, the first of the mystery intruders crept out of the factory's shadow.

"What the...?"

"Could it be...?"

"It is."

"No way!" Steven exclaimed with childlike excitement. "That's a Tank!"

A mere second after Steven spoke, all eight of the factory doors opened. Out of each door crawled out more tanks.

"Steven, you know what that thing is?" Pearl ask with genuine surprise.

"Yeah, I've seen all types of tanks in that game I used to play," Steven stated proudly. He then pointed down at the tanks that were gathering below them.

"These are German tanks from WWII. Look, that's a Pz IV, that's a Panther, that big one is a Tiger 1, and that's a-"

"Everyone, move!"

Sensing an incoming attack, Garnet grabbed Steven and lept onto the building next to them.  
>Not a second after they jumped, a powerful explosion blew apart the roof of the apartment complex.<p>

"That came from behind us!" Pearl shouted, her ears still ringing.

Garnet turned around to face the attackers. It was then that Garnet realized just how large scale the situation had become.

From the town west of the city came the valiant American tanks.  
>M4 Shermans pushed their way through the block off roads while M26 Pershings covered their flank.<br>Leading the charge was the mighty T29 heavy tank, its thick treads tearing deep into the ground.

From the North valleys came the proud British tanks.  
>Tearing through the grass lands and charging through the small cottages were the Churchills.<br>Following close behind them were the nimble Cromwells.  
>Falling behind in the charge was the humble Matilda tanks.<br>With their 2-pdr guns and their 75 mm Vickers loaded, the British tanks lumbered down towards the city.

From the port town in the northeast came the French tanks.  
>Smashing through the houses and brick walls crawled the short but mighty BDR G1 B heavy tanks.<br>Behind them came the Char B1s.  
>With the roar of it's 105mm cannon, the ALR 44 made it's presence on the fields known.<p>

From the snow covered east came the Russian tanks.  
>Breaking through snow and ice lumbered several KV-1s and KV-2s.<br>Pushing their way through the forest came several T-34s with a single IS heavy tank leading the pack.

From the hidden village in the far east, several Japanese tanks crawled their way down the winding mountain paths.  
>Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks crept like snakes down into the village and laid waste to it.<br>Bursting out of the bamboo thicket were at least five Type 3 Chi-Nu Kai tanks and two Type 5 Chi-Ri tanks.

The gems steeled themselves for the coming storm. Their prized city was going to become a battlefield, and they were caught right in the middle of it all.

"Get ready, Gems," Garnet ordered her comrades loudly. "It has begun!"


	6. Chapter 6 : The Son Returns

Chapter 6

* * *

><p>Like ravenous monsters of old, the tank enclosed upon the city. They all had one goal and one goal only; to fight.<br>The pounding of cannons began to echo all around. The gems were hopelessly out numbered, with enemies closing in from all directions.  
>Things were about to get a whole lot worse, and Garnet knew it.<p>

"Alright gems, we need to-"

The rooftop the gems were standing on suddenly exploded in a horrible blast of fire and shrapnel.  
>The force of the blast sent the gems flying in different directions. They tumbled through the air before slamming down onto the cold, hard ground.<br>After the shock of the blast wore off, Pearl managed to push herself off of the ground. Everything hurt.  
>Her ears were ringing terribly and she had bits of shrapnel stuck in her shoulders.<p>

"Oww...Steven?"

Pearl was struck with horror, Steven wasn't with her.

"Steven! Where are you?! Please, Steven answer me?!"

Her cries were meet with silence. Panic and dread began to eat though Pearl's mind.

_This is my fault,_ she thought as tears began to swell.

"Steven...please," she whimpered. "Please answer me."

Movement came from a pile of rubble.

"Steven?"

A small hand pushed its way out and started waving.

"Steven!" Pearl cried out as she ran over to the rubble pile. Grasping his hand tightly, Pearl pulled Steven out of the rubble.  
>He was bruised and scraped, but otherwise unharmed.<p>

"What happened?" he asked still dazed. Pearl threw her arms around him and hugged him, laughing and crying at the same time.

"Oh, Steven, I though I had lost you," Pearl exclaimed as she squeezed him.

"Thanks, Pearl," Steven chuckled bashfully. "But where are the others?"

Pearl gasped, she hadn't though about the others. Pearl suddenly remembered what Garnet had warned them about.  
>That they should not get separated. After brushing the dirt and wooden splinters out of Steven's hair, Pearl touched her forehead and summoned her spear.<p>

"We need to find the others quickly," she stated in a serious tone. "they couldn't have gotten too far-"

A sporadic spray of machine gun fire forced Pearl and Steven to duck behind a tipped over car. Around the street corner rolled a tiny T1 Cunningham.  
>Pearl growled with anger.<p>

"That's him!" she exclaimed angrily. "That's the one that attacked us!"

"Uhh, Pearl," Steven cautioned. "I don't think that-"

Pearl didn't listen, she wanted to make the little T1 pay for attacking the gems and for hurting Steven. With a single fluid motion, Pearl threw her spear.  
>Almost effortlessly, the spear pierced through the T1's turret armor.<br>She then dashed forward, gracefully flipped through the air, and landed on top of the wounded tank.  
>Pearl grabbed her spear, twisted it, then ripped it out. She then flipped backwards off of the tank and landed in front of Steven.<br>Not a moment after her feet touched the ground the T1's turret blew off of it's body in a shower of fire and oil.

"Well, he won't be bothering us anymore," Pearl stated with a smug smile.

"That wasn't the one," Steven stated with a hint of panic.

"Pardon?" Pearl asked.

"That wasn't the one," Steven repeated.

A low rumbling echoed from the street parallel to the burning T1. With a great crunching noise, a pair of treads ground into a parked car.  
>Rolling out behind the street corner was a Russian KV-1 heavy tank. Steven grabbed Pearl's hand and started to run.<p>

"That's the one that attacked us!"

The KV-1 turned it's turret towards it's new prey, readying the next shell in its belly. With a thunder like boom, the KV-1 fired its 85mm cannon.  
>The shell narrowly missed Steven and Pearl by a hair's length.<br>The two skidded to a stop when the shell hit the building in front of them, creating a blast of brick and broken glass.  
>Pearl held Steven and shielded him from the blast. She bared and grit her teeth in pain as glass shards dug into her back.<p>

"Pearl!" Steven cried out.

She opened her eyes and saw that the KV-1 was closing in behind them. Ignoring the shrapnel in her back, Pearl grabbed Steven and ran.

"We need to find Garnet and Amethyst!" she exclaimed as the two ran as fast as they could.

_The Kliment Voroshilov was annoyed.  
>That pink one and the shiny сука were running from it.<br>If they wanted to run, then so be it._

* * *

><p>While Steven and Pearl ran for their lives, Amethyst had been faring slightly better. Most of the tanks that attacked her were small, thinly armored light tanks.<br>She found that her whip did a great job a constricting the small gun barrels shut. This caused most of the tanks to either blow their own turret off, or turn tail and run. The whip trick didn't work on the medium and heavy tanks. Whenever she encountered those, she would shape shift and hide.  
>But she knew that eventually her luck would run out. She needed to find the others before that happened.<p>

"Ugh! Where is everybody!" she yelled in frustration. "Garnet, Pearl, Steven, anybody?!"

The sound of distant explosions caught her attention.

"Where there's explosions, there's Garnet," Amethyst stated happily as she ran towards the direction of the explosions.  
>Suddenly, a pair of tracks peeked out from behind the street corner in front of Amethyst. Grinding to a halt was a Churchill heavy tank.<br>The Churchill used its long and wide body to block Amethyst's path.

"Ugh, get out of my way, fatty!"

She cracked her whip towards the Churchill's cannon hellbent on tearing it off.  
>But before the whip could ensnare the cannon, the tank moved it's turret and dodged the whip.<br>Amethyst was impressed, it had figured out her trick. As she ran closer to the tank, the Churchill turned it's body to face her.  
>Without warning, the Churchill fired it's 7.92mm machine gun. Dodging the stream of bullets by mere inches, Amethyst lept over the Churchill and ran away from it.<p>

"Oh, man, where is Garnet when I need her?" she yelled as she ran. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the Churchill was pursuing her.

_ It was rude of the purple one to run away from a fight._

The Churchill loaded a high explosive shell into the camber.

_ She needed to be disciplined._

The Churchill's 75mm Vickers would be her punishment.

* * *

><p>Garnet ducked as a shell hurtled over her. The T-34 that fired the shell revved its V-2 engine, challenging the gem.<br>Her gauntlets raised, Garnet charged the tank. With a plume of exhaust, the T-34 charged the gem.  
>As the two impacted against each other, the sound of straining metal rang out.<br>With her feet planted firmly into the ground, Garnet managed to push the tank so that it's front was in the air.  
>With a loud whining noise, the T-34's treads snapped. Sparks flew as the bare metal rims ground against the pavement.<br>With a mighty push, Garnet flipped the tank backwards, destroying it's turret. As the tank burst into flames, Garnet heard a second tank approach from behind.  
>Tilting her head slightly to the right, she dodged a 2pdr shell fired from an approaching Matilda tank.<br>Acting quickly, Garnet dug her hands into the dead T-34 and tore out a 76mm shell. She then spun around and lobbed the shell at the Matilda.  
>The shell punched through the tank's turret and detonated it's ammo rack. With a loud bang, the turret was blown off of it's body.<p>

"This is getting intense," she stated flatly as she adjusted her shades. "I need to locate the others before-"

A loud explosion followed by a rapidly approaching yell caught Garnet's attention. She turned around just in time to see Amethyst hurtle towards her.  
>With a loud thud, Amethyst landed on top of Garnet.<p>

Amethyst groaned painfully as she rolled off of Garnet. Garnet quickly stood up and helped Amethyst up.

"Ugh...found you," Amethyst said with a soot covered smile. "Have you seen-"

"Garnet, Amethyst!"

Both gems turned to face the cries. Running as fast as they could were Pearl and Steven. The frightened pair both slowed to a stop and tried to catch their breath.

"Thank-goodness we've- found you two," Pearl painted, desperate for air.

"Holy crud , P, you're a mess!" Amethyst exclaimed as she removed the shrapnel from Pearl's back.  
>Pearl bit down on her thumb as Amethyst pulled out a four inch long piece of glass from her back.<p>

"Garnet, are we gonna make it to the factory?" Steven asked in a defeated tone.

Garnet looked over her team mates. They were tired, wounded, and in Steven's case, hungry. She had to admit it, the situation looked grim.  
>Before she could voice her reply, a familiar rumbling approached from behind them.<br>Coming to punish the rude gem that ran from their fight was the Churchill.

"Everyone, move!"

The gems turned and ran the opposite direction towards the only rout of escape. With a loud growl, a second tank rolled forward and cut off their only way out. Wishing to claim the pink one and the shinny thin сука was the KV-1.  
>The gems were trapped. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were not worried about their lives, they were worried about Steven's.<br>Being only half gem, Steven would not survive both blasts.  
>The three gems surrounded Steven, hoping their bodies would shield him from the tank's fury.<br>It looked as though the situation couldn't get any worse. How wrong they were.

Suddenly, something broke it's way out of the side of the building complex beside the gems.

"Everyone, get back!" Garnet ordered.

Rolling out of the collapsing building lumbered a Sherman Jumbo. The Jumbo crept closer towards the gems, it's 76mm gun staring down at them.  
>As Steven looked desperately for a way out, he spotted something familiar. Right above the driver's port on the Jumbo was a Cookie Cat symbol.<br>Steven's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Steven Jr. 2 ?"

The Jumbo stopped in it's tracks. With his hands raised, Steven slowly approached the tank.

"Steven, get away from it!" Pearl screamed.

"He'll crush you!" Amethyst yelled as well.

Steven was undaunted.

"I know its you, Steven Jr. 2!" he stated loudly as he addressed the tank. " I know that things are really messed up right now, but you're still my son! I want you to know that no matter what the others are telling you, you will always be my son!"

"Steven, what are you-"

Amethyst put her hand on Pearl and shook her head. Amethyst had always been able to read the emotions of others, and something felt sad about the tank.  
>It felt like it was longing for something. She could feel a sense of nostalgia, anger, and regret.<p>

"Please, Steven Jr. 2, remember all the good times we've had!" Steven pleaded with tears in his eyes. "I've been with you ever since you were a baby M3 Lee! We've been together though good times and bad times!"

Pearl was moved to tears. As foolish as it seemed, Steven loved that tank like it was his own son.

"Even when you got hurt, I was there to take care of you!" Steven cried as he fell to his knees. "So please, Steven Jr.2, please help us!"

The Jumbo stood still, it's gun still aimed at the gems. After a long pause, the Jumbo raised it's gun away from the gems.  
>The Jumbo turned it's turret to it's right and fire at the Churchill. The 76mm shell punched right though the Churchill's engine, causing it to explode.<br>The KV-1 turned it's turret towards Steven and fired. But before the shell could reach Steven, the Jumbo rolled forward and bounced the shot off of its side armor.  
>The Jumbo fired another shell. Before the KV-1 could retreat, the shell pierced it's ammo rack and blew it's turret off in a burst of flames.<p>

The gems were all dumbstruck. The Jumbo just saved their lives. The tank rotated its body to face them. It raised it's gun and pointed it away from them.

"Steven Jr. 2?" they all asked.

The tank moved it's gun up and down as if nodding it's head.

"I knew you would remember!" Steven cried as he threw himself against the tank's frontal armor. Amethyst ran over and hugged the tank, laughing happily.

"Way to go, Jr.2!" she cheered loudly, her fist in the air.

Pearl sheepishly made her way over to the tank.

"Umm...Th-thank you for helping us," she smiled nervously while she ran her hand along the dent in it's armor. " It was very noble of you."

Steven Jr.2 revved his engine happily.

Garnet smiled, the tank was a perfect match for Steven.

"Thank you," she stated with a bow.

"Excuse me, Jr.2?" Pearl asked sweetly. "We were trying to reach the factory. Would it be too much trouble to ask for your help?"

Jr.2 revved his engine loudly and eagerly. After backing up and turning around, Jr.2 motioned for the gems to follow him.

"Lead the way, Jr.2," Garnet said with a smile.

Amethyst crawled on top of Jr.2 had cheered.

"Three cheers for Steven Jr. 2!"

* * *

><p><em>Why did the tank help the gems you ask? Well, with the longer it took Steven to level up that tank online, the stronger his emotional bond became with it.<br>Steven's childlike imagination had given the tank a personality of its own. This personality bled into the replica that the crystal assembler built.  
>At first, it felt the same as the other tanks. It wanted nothing more than to fight. But Steven's cries reawakened the emotional bond the two had forged.<br>He remembered all the victories, the defeats, and all the time the two had spent together. He recognized not just his master, but his father._


	7. Chapter 7 : Deathshead

Chapter 7

* * *

><p>With their new ally, the gems continued their journey to the factory. The gems knew just how fortunate they were for Jr already knew all of the city streets and hiding spots. While the rest of the tanks fought amongst each other, the gems managed to keep themselves away from the mayhem.<br>The fact that Jr was armed with a 76mm cannon also meant that Jr could go up against most stragglers they came across.  
>For the first time that day, things were starting to look up.<p>

* * *

><p>Steven and Amethyst sat on Jr's back. Garnet rode on top of the turret, her watchful eyes keeping a sharp look out for hostiles.<br>Pearl walked along side of Jr, still a little unnerved by the friendly tank. But she found that she was slowly warming up to it.

Amethyst put her ear against Jr's turret and listened.

"Jr says that this part of the city is under the American tank's control," she hollered to the group.

Pearl sighed and rolled her eyes.

"He cant talk, Amethyst," she stated in an exasperated tone.

"Yes he can!" Amethyst shot back. "You just don't know how to listen!"

Pearl slapped her palm to her forehead, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Alright, fine. I'll play along," she relented. "Does Jr have anything he wants to say?"

Amethyst placed her ear against the turret again. She smiled and started to snicker.

"What did he say?" Pearl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Jr says your hands are soft and that they felt good on his glacis plate!" Amethyst blurted out loudly before rolling back laughing.

Pearl squeaked with embarrassment and covered her mouth with her hand, blushing light blue.

The group continued down the isolated street for a few blocks, passing the burning husks of slain tanks. Jr suddenly stopped in his tracks. Something wasn't right. Amethyst put her ear up to the turret.

"He says we need to hide!"

Amethyst grabbed Steven and lept off Jr with Garnet following close behind. The gems hid within an ally way that was hidden from the street.  
>A low rumbling confirmed Jr's warning. Rolling towards Jr was a T29 heavy tank. Following close behind it were two M26 Pershing tanks.<br>The battle scarred T29 rolled up close to Jr and aimed his gun towards him. For about about twenty seconds the two tanks stood still.  
>Then the T29 turned it's turret to the north and revved it's engine. Pearl couldn't believe what she was witnessing. The tanks were communicating.<br>After the two tanks finished, the T29 revved it's engine and started moving north, the two Pershings following close behind it.

Once the coast was clear, the gems ran back to Jr.

"What was that all about?" Pearl asked as she climbed up onto Jr's back.

Amethyst placed her ear against Jr's turret.

"Jr says the other tanks are preparing for the final battle and that all the other tanks will be moving north towards the drained river." She stopped and listened again.

"And that something called 'Deathshead' is prowling the area!"

"That doesn't sound friendly," Steven stated worriedly.

"Don't worry, Steven," Garnet said flatly. "If we run into this 'Deathshead', I'll take care of it."

Jr revved his engine and continued forward.

* * *

><p>It was now nine o'clock, and the fighting was reaching a new level of ferocity. The city was in flames as all opposing tanks clashed against each other.<br>Amidst the chaos, the only things that stood untouched were the factories. Like hellish obelisks, they stood against the dim orange glow of the ruined city.  
>As the gems snaked their way through the city, Pearl began to feel a heavy sadness come over her.<p>

"This place was so beautiful," she said wistfully as she gazed up at the sky. "Now look at it."

The gems understood what she meant. No trace of the Strawberry fields remained. Now, even the great city that had replaced it was falling into ruin.  
>But if their was even the slightest chance of restoring order, the gems would take it.<p>

As the group got closer to the factory, they began to notice more and more burning tank husks littering the streets. Amethyst could sense that Jr was frightened.

"It's alright, big guy," she assured in a soft voice as she ran her hand along his armor comfortingly. "Garnet is here. She can punch the crap out of any thing."

Steven crawled up on top of Jr's turret and began to pat him on the turret hatch.

"We've been through worse," Steven stated proudly. "We'll make it, just like always."

Garnet suddenly stood and pointed forward.

"There it is."

Finally, the gems had made it to the factory. The factory was enormous in size, dwarfing the crystal temple. It's walls were made of steel and thick concrete.

"I'll take care of this," Garnet stated as she lept from the tank.

With her fists pulled back, Garnet slammed her fist into the factory wall. The wall cracked and started to collapse. Suddenly, the wall froze in mid-fall and rebuilt itself. Garnet punched the wall again harder but had the same results. Garnet then turned back to the tank.

"You want to give it a shot?"

Jr revved his engine then rotated his turret towards the factory wall. With a loud boom, Jr fired his 76mm. The shell blew a massive hole in the wall.  
>But just when they thought it had worked, the wall rebuilt itself again.<p>

"How are we supposed to destroy the factories if they can do that?" a disheartened Pearl asked, gripping her spear tightly.

"We don't," Garnet responded. "Because they aren't what's rebuilding the city."

"What do you mean?" Steven asked.

"The thing responsible for all of this is and always has been the crystal assembler," Garnet answered.  
>" Like the spinning motion of the pyramid temple, the assembler is stuck in an infinite looping cycle of repairing and rebuilding."<p>

"So the city being destroyed is not caused by the factories?" Amethyst asked.

"Not directly, the factories are doing what they were built for; building tanks. The tanks are what keep destroying the city. They fight, they die, the assembler rebuilds, the factories rebuild the tanks, and so on."

"So in order to stop all of this,we need to destroy the crystal assembler," Pearl concluded excitedly.

"Correct, now we just need to locate the assembler," Garnet stated as she adjusted her shades.

"Everyone, back to-"

A distant explosion followed by a low whistling noise alerted the gems to incoming danger.

"Get down!"

With a catastrophic blast of fire and metal, Jr was struck in his side by an armor piercing shell.  
>The force of the impact spun him violently with sparks flashing as his treads scraped across the ground with a terrible screech until he lurched to a stop.<p>

"Jr, no!" Steven cried out as he ran to the stricken tank.

Jr's engine was smoking with oil seeping out.

"Come on guys!" Amethyst cried as she ran to aid Steven. "We have to help him!"

Pearl and Garnet both started to push Jr out of the street. Jr tried to move, but a loud clacking noise meant that his treads were snapped.  
>As she pushed, Pearl placed her gem against Jr's body. She could feel fear and pain within the tank's body.<br>He was dying.

With the last amount of strength he had, Jr turned his gun to the north.  
>Frightened and confused, Steven pressed his ear against Jr's body.<p>

_Run...Daddy..._

The sound of a second explosion rang out. Acting quickly, Garnet pulled Steven away from Jr and ran for cover.

"Everyone move!"

Just as the gems dove to safety, Jr was struck with another shell. The shell ripped through Jr's armor and detonated inside of him.  
>Jr's fuel tanks ruptured and caught fire instantly. When the gems looked back, they saw the burning body of Steven's surrogate son, his gun still raised defiantly towards the north.<p>

"No, Steven Jr. 2!" Steven cried out as he ran to the burning wreck. Pearl grabbed him and locked her arms under his, keeping him from running blindly into the flames.

"He's gone, Steven!" Pearl exclaimed as she struggled to keep a hold of the distraught boy.

"Let me go! I can still help him!" Steven yelled angrily with hot tears running down his face.

Pearl spun Steven around and slapped him across the face. Steven went silent, his eyes wide with shock and confusion.

"He's gone, Steven," Pearl repeated in a hurt but stern tone. "He's gone and there is nothing we can do!"

Steven's lip started to quiver. He looked back to Jr's burning husk then back to Pearl. Her eyes showed that she too was hurting.  
>With a loud, anguished wail, Steven buried his face into Pearl's chest. Pearl held him tightly and let Steven cry.<br>She ran her hand over his back, her maternal instincts screaming that she needed to comfort the child somehow.  
>She whimpered and sniffled as tears of her own began to fall.<br>With a loud sob, Amethyst knelt down and put her arms around Steven as well. In the time before the second attack, Amethyst was forced to listen to Jr's unnatural cries of pain followed by the haunting silence of his death.  
>The usually stone faced Garnet felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She too knelt down and wrapped her arms around the laminating gems. Jr was strong.<br>He was strong enough to fight the urge to kill Steven and the gems.

"He-he was so strong!" Steven cried out between sobs.

"He was so noble!" Pearl sobbed as she pressed her forehead against Steven's.

"He was so awesome!" Amethyst wailed in between hiccups.

"He was so-"

A third cannon shot rang out, followed by Jr's turret being blown off. Over the crackle of the raging flames, the gems could hear a deep ominous grinding noise.  
>The grinding was coming from the north were the attacks had come from. With the light of the moon behind it, a large tank approached slowly down the north road. The gems all stood and readied their weapons, enraged that this assailant wouldn't even give them the time to mourn their fallen friend.<br>As the approaching tank crept closer, the dull orange light of the flames illuminated it's fearsome body.  
>With it's mighty Flak 88 still smoking, the tank allowed the gems to gaze upon it. Standing before the gems was a mighty King Tiger heavy tank.<br>Along side the Flak 88 was the name "Totenkopf."  
>As if out of spite, the King Tiger scraped it's treads against Jr's body.<p>

"You!" Garnet pointed threateningly. "You're 'Deathshead', aren't you?"

The King Tiger nodded its gun. Garnet stood up and clenched her gauntlets. She remembered that gun.  
>It was that same that had attacked her and Amethyst during their last visit.<p>

"You just killed a very dear friend of ours," she stated coldly as she walked menacingly towards the tank.  
>The tank suddenly fired a burst from its MG34, but Garnet blocked the stream of bullets with her hand.<br>She looked back at the rest of the gems.

"Get Steven out of here!" she ordered before turning back to the tank. "I'll handle Deathshead."

Garnet felt the fires of anger burn inside of her. Jr was their friend, and Deathshead murdered him.  
>The tank suddenly fired it's cannon at her. Like an ancient Titan, Garnet stood her ground as the shell blew up against her hand.<br>In the blast, shrapnel broke her shades in half and gashed her cheek. Warm, purple liquid ran dawn from her cheek and past her lips.  
>She licked the trickle of blood by her mouth. It was strange, she had never grown use to it's taste.<br>Rarely could anything manage to harm her, let alone make her bleed. Through her broken shades, all three of Garnet's eyes had a wild look in them.  
>The fire within her was now a raging inferno fueled by the rushing adrenaline. A wicked smile crossed her face.<p>

She had found a worthy adversary.

"I hope you're ready!" she yelled raising her fists. "Cuz' I'm coming for you, Deathshead!"

* * *

><p><em> Ugh, how dare zat filthy gem untermenschen address me in such a tone!<br>If it vants to face this feat of superior German engineering, zhen so be it!  
>She vill be crying my name out vin I am done vith her.<br>But she vill address her new master properly.  
>No more of zis 'Deathshead' nonsense.<br>Mein name ist Totenkopf! _


	8. Chapter 8 : Reaper of Steel

Chapter 8

* * *

><p>Garnet let out a savage war cry as she charged Deathshead. She wanted nothing more than to see his oil stained on her gauntlets.<br>Deathshead's engine roared as he barreled towards the gem. He wanted her as a war trophy. Every king needed a crown jewel.  
>Once he was done with Garnet, he would hunt down her comrades and claim their jewels for himself. All he needed to do now was kill Garnet.<p>

The ground cracked and windows shattered as the two titans impacted. Garnet jabbed as hard as she could against Deathshead's frontal hull.  
>Much to her surprise, her attack had only dented Deathshead's armor. With no need to counter her attack, Deathshead rammed against her at full speed.<br>With her mighty strength, Garnet push back against the attack. Sparks and earth flew behind Deathshead as his treads fought against the ground.  
>He was not about to let this gem deny him his crown jewel. As the two pushed against each other, Garnet noticed something shimmering in his armor.<p>

Crystal gem shards.  
>The shards from the fallen gem weapons and warriors had been smelted within the metal used in the factories.<br>Because Deathshead was so large, he had more gem shards within him. That's why he was so durable and so fast.  
>The mystical properties of the crystals allowed Deathshead to move at speeds no normal King Tiger tank could.<br>Deathshead wasn't a tank, he was a crystal abomination.

Garnet pushed against the ground as hard as her legs could as she tried to keep from being overpowered. But she was slowly forced back.  
>Both were strong, but Deathshead had weight and size on his side. His engine roared as he upped his throttle.<br>Garnet bared her teeth as Deathshead's treads inched closer and closer to her face. Suddenly, Deathshead slammed into reverse.  
>With room to aim, Deathshead fired a shell point blank at Garnet's face with a blast of fire and smoke.<br>Confident that no gem could survive a blast from a mighty German made Flak 88, Deathshead began to crawl away. He had other gems to hunt.  
>But as the smoke cleared, he found that Garnet was still standing.<br>She had caught the end of the 88mm shell with her teeth.

The shell dropped harmlessly to the ground with bite marks dented into the metal. Garnet ran her tongue over her teeth then spat.

"That all you've got...bitch?" she growled venomously with, her eyes gleaming from the orange glow from the flames.

That did it, Garnet had finally infuriated Deathshead.  
>With an unnatural scream and roar, he charged Garnet at a speed that should not have been possible. Deathshead fired his 88mm again, this time hitting his mark.<br>The force of the blast threw Garnet backwards. With a bone shattering slam, she hit the ground and tumbled to a stop.  
>Before she could recover, Deathshead ran one his treads over her. His crushing weight forced Garnet deep into the ground.<br>He no longer wanted her as a trophy, now he wanted to see her as a greasy smear on his treads.  
>As the treads ground and scraped against her, Garnet grew angrier.<br>She was not about to just lie there and take that kind of punishment.

"Get you're filthy treads off of me!" she cried angrily.

Suddenly, Deathshead found that he was slowly being pushed off the ground.  
>With sparks flying, Garnet grabbed him by the tread that he was crushing her with. Slowly Garnet lifted the metal monster off of her until she was back on her knees. She then firmly planted her feet against the ground.<br>Now with his front completely off the ground, Deathshead began to panic.  
>He started firing shell after shell into the air, hoping to hit something, anything.<p>

"You've been dethroned," Garnet hissed, hatred dripping off each word.  
>With a final war cry, Garnet flipped Deathshead backwards.<br>As his body smashed into the ground, Garnet lept on top of his vulnerable underbelly.  
>She then tore a hole into his armor and dug her hands into Deathshead's metallic innards.<br>Garnet grabbed and ripped out anything her hands could find and threw them away.  
>Deathshead's treads began to slow and his engine began to sputter. Garnet could feel the life slowly draining out of the machine.<br>With one last handful of oil slick metal, Deathshead's engine stopped and caught fire.  
>Garnet stood up and gazed down at the wreckage of the once proud King Tiger.<br>The mighty Totenkopf had been slain.

* * *

><p>Exhausted, Garnet hopped down to the ground and fell to her knees. She looked down at the crumbling stone road and sighed.<p>

"This is hopeless."

Garnet was immortal, but even she had her limits. The shock from the blasts, the shrapnel, the endless attacks, all had taken their toll on her.  
>She was strong, but she wasn't unstoppable. As she regained her strength, Garnet smelt something; something sweet. The scent was that of strawberries.<br>Flashing images of the peaceful Strawberry fields flooded her mind. The warmth, the sweet clean air, the little blue butterflies, all of it was now gone.

Garnet put her hands over her face and wept as the feeling of hopelessness fell over her. The Crystal Gems would not be able to save this tormented land.  
>They had failed.<p>

"Garnet?" a quiet voice spoke.

She lifted her head to find Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven standing in front of her. Steven took her hand and held it.

"Can we go home?"

"Steven, we can't leave now," Pearl stated firmly. "We need to destroy the crystal assembler."

"We can't," Garnet said with a heavy heart.

Pearl's heart skipped, she knew that tone, it was the the tone of defeat.

"We have to, Garnet!"

"What's the point?" Amethyst asked bitterly.

"What's the point?!" Pearl snapped angrily. "We caused this, and now we have to set it right!"

"Says who?!" Amethyst shouted back, anger rising in her voice.

"Says who- We are the Crystal Gems!" Pearl practically screamed in anger.

Both gems were now seething with anger, like a powder keg ready to burst.

"So what?" Amethyst hissed coldly.

Steven could only watch as the two gems began hurling insults at one another. This time it felt different, this time the insults were much more personal and hateful.  
>As the fight went on, Garnet noticed that the moon had turned a blood red. The wind started to howl loudly.<br>Lightning cracked and danced across the blackened clouds. The temperature dropped sharply, which drew the fighting gems away from their petty squabble. Something big was about to happen, something apocalyptic.

Snapping herself out of her disparity, Garnet grabbed hold of the gems and began bounding out of the city at breakneck speeds.

"Garnet, what are you-"

"It's starting!" she stated coldly as she lept between the remaining roof tops.  
>Steven looked out over the city.<br>Hundreds of tanks were moving north towards the barren river bed.  
>On the opposite side of the river bed, more tanks were headed to the south.<p>

"What's starting?" he asked growing more and more frightened. Garnet squeezed him tightly as if to shield him from an unseen threat.

"The final round."


	9. Chapter 9 : Sea of Fire

Chapter 9

* * *

><p>The hour of judgment had finally come. The burning husk of the once great city stood ominously against the red sky.<br>Thick black clouds choked the light of the moon as embers ascended into the night. Warped and shattered metal bodies smoldered in the streets.  
>The war had finally reached it's terminal stage. It was time to end it.<p>

"Where are you taking us?!" Pearl asked as she clung to Garnet for dear life.

"Somewhere far away from here!" Garnet exclaimed.

She had to keep everyone safe, to do that, they had no choice but to forsake the city. With a loud thud, Garnet's feet hit the ground.  
>She had taken them back to where they had first stumbled upon the city.<p>

"Everyone, stay close!" she ordered loudly. "It's almost over!"

* * *

><p>The once mighty river that had divided the north and south end of the city was now a shallow, mud filled pit.<br>Lumbering through the crumbling city came the surviving tanks. American, British, French, Soviet, and Japanese tanks all moved together in one direction; forward.  
>They smashed their way through any remaining buildings and crushed anything unfortunate enough to be in their way.<br>Nothing was going to stand between them and their one last chance to fulfill their birthright.  
>They needed to fight, it was their sole purpose in the world.<br>They needed to show the what the great American industry could produce and arm.  
>They needed to show that they were not afraid to die for their queen and country.<br>They needed to show the superiority of steel forged from the fatherland.  
>They needed to show the might that only the motherland could birth.<br>They needed war.

From the blasted remains of the city, the metal beasts emerged.  
>Both from the north and south sides of the scarred land, the tanks lined up side to side. The opposing side halted at the edge of the barren river bed.<br>Below them was a deep, mile long no man's land.  
>All of the fighting had lead up to this.<br>Both sides waited for the other to make the first move.  
>The gems readied themselves. They knew the final battle was about to erupt.<p>

* * *

><p>Suddenly, the tanks on the south all fired their cannons in massive volley.<p>

It had begun.

The north fired a volley of their own.  
>With a collective roar of engines, both sides charged down into the river bed.<br>Their guns flashed and their treads tore and flung mud as they barreled at full speed towards their enemy.  
>Like a ancient cataclysm, the two sides slammed into each other.<br>All hell had finally broken loose.  
>Tanks rammed against each other. Sparks flew as metal scrapped against metal. Armor was blown open. Engines erupted into flames.<br>The land echoed with the pounding of metal against metal. Shell after shell was fired. The air began to stink of gasoline and sulfur.  
>The black oil blood of the tanks stained the ground as more and more perished. Fire spread and covered the river bed.<br>Even with a sea of fire around them, the tanks kept fighting. They had no need to stop, and they didn't want to.  
>There were no sides in this battle any longer, now it was every tank for themselves.<p>

Pearl put her hands on Steven's shoulders and pulled him towards her, like a mother would with her child during a storm.

"Chaos..." she muttered, horrified at the hellish nightmare that the strawberry fields had become.

"Absolute chaos."

* * *

><p>As the hours passed, the sounds of the distant battle grew quieter and quieter.<br>With one last explosion, a haunting silence fell over the lands. The gems felt something move them. It felt like the great passing of something.  
>After all the fire, smoke, and mayhem, all was now still and quiet.<p>

"Is it over?" Steven asked in a numbed tone.

Before anyone could answer, a bright flash lite up the sky.

"Look!" Amethyst yelled pointing towards the city. "What's happening ?"

High above the city, bits of glass and dirt began to spiral towards a bright glowing object.

"It's the crystal assembler!" Pearl exclaimed. "There is still hope!"

The ground began to shake and the wind began to blow towards the crystal.

"We need to destroy it!" Garnet yelled over the howling wind.

"But how?" Amethyst asked as she fought against the pull of the crystal singularity.

Garnet slammed her fist into the ground and cracked it into large chunks.

"We let it take us!"

Before anyone could voice their concerns, the ground split and pulled the gems up.

"Hold on, Steven!" Amethyst yelled as she held on to him.

Buildings crumbled and were pulled into the sky. The husks of tanks were ripped apart and thrown up into the storm of debris.

"It's tearing everything apart!" Pearl cried over to Garnet. " If we don't destroy it soon, it will tear us apart as well!"

The tempest began to spin faster and more violently as it broke down everything down to a molecular level. The sky flashed with a pulsing red light.

"Garnet, destroy it!" Pearl screamed as a whirlwind of glass cut into her.

Garnet lept and reached out for the crystal. With it's light burning her, Garnet grabbed the assembler and shattered it. With a blinding flash, everything began to fall. As the gems plummeted towards the ground, they had to dodge falling rocks and tanks.  
>Suddenly a huge rock slammed into Amethyst and caused her to lose her grip on Steven.<p>

"Steven!" she screamed as the boy plummeted.

With a sickening crack, Steven hit the ground. Everything went black.

"Steven!" all three of the gems cried out in horror. Quickly they ran over to him.

"Steven, can you hear me?!" Pearl cried as she tried to roust him. He didn't move.

"Come on, please, you gotta wake up!" Amethyst pleaded.

Steven's eyes flickered open, then went wide with fear. His gem began to glow. Suddenly, a huge bubble shield surrounded the gems.  
>The gems looked up to see a wall of rubble falling down upon them. As the rain of wreckage bludgeoned the shield, the gems all embraced him.<br>If the shield failed, they would protect the young gem with their bodies. Finally the avalanche of rock and metal came to an end.  
>His gem flickered and the shield popped.<p>

"Is it over now?" Steven asked groggily, his head pounding.

The gems looked around the fields, nothing was moving and the factories had finally stopped working.

"Yes, it is over," Pearl said with a teary smile as she helped him off the ground. "It's finally over!"

"Good, that really sucked!" Amethyst scowled tiredly.

Garnet nodded her head and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Let's go home," she sighed tiredly. " I need a shower."

Tired and sore, the gems gathered together. They took one last look around the gray ash covered fields. While they may not have been able to restore the strawberry fields to it's former glory, they had at least ended the vicious cycle of destruction.

"Goodbye Jr," Steven muttered sadly. "We'll miss you."

As the dim light of the warp field began to glow, a soft breeze began to blow. Pearl sniffed the air and sighed.

"Call me crazy, but I can smell strawberries."

* * *

><p><strong>Finally it's over! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed typing it. <strong>

**Until next time. **

**Roll out! **


End file.
